Olympic Luge

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Dude wrecked today, when you get a chance to see the video................dont its pretty uncomfortable to watch.

Not to mention it seems to go on way longer than it actually does and I dont even want to tell you about the pole he hit.





EDIT

Just saw that he died from the wreck. RIP

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Cue the safety nazis and more than likely our Congress.

They need to get to the bottom of luge safety, steroids and the BCS......

[BlueHen86]

The video has been pulled from youtube, but I saw some pics. That course doesn't look to safe to me, looks like it would befairly easy to go over the wall into the pole.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

I saw it on a Satellite news feed and brother that was harsh.

I am not squeamish in any way.........graphic stuff doesnt bother me and that made me flinch a few times.

[BlueHen86]

I saw it on a Satellite news feed and brother that was harsh.

I am not squeamish in any way.........graphic stuff doesnt bother me and that made me flinch a few times.

There was one pic in the slideshow of him making contact with the pole. It looks harmless until you realize that he was probably travelling more than 60 mph at the time.

[CitadelGrad]

Actually, it was estimated he was going about 95mph at the time. Maybe they meant 95kmh.

[dbackjon]

Actually, it was estimated he was going about 95mph at the time. Maybe they meant 95kmh.

No - 90+ mph

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Yeah they said 140kmph


100kmph=60mph

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/1 ... 60474.html

[JayJ79]

That's a risk you take when you participate in such sports.
No matter what safety precautions are taken, when you're sliding down an ice chute at 90+ mph in an open sled, there are bound to be pretty brutal crashes.

Not saying that it isn't tragic, just that anyone who participates in such events willingly assume such risks.

[GannonFan]

Said it in the other thread on this - there have been crashes all week and people have been questioning whether it's too fast. Heck, even the favorites in one of the events crashed and was knocked unconscious, so it's not shocking to think something equally awful or worse could happen to a lesser skilled racer like this guy was. Couple that with the fact that due to "home field advantage" (not a knock on Canada, every country does it) the course is only open for practice for athletes from other countries for a very short window of time.

[Grizalltheway]

That's a risk you take when you participate in such sports.
No matter what safety precautions are taken, when you're sliding down an ice chute at 90+ mph in an open sled, there are bound to be pretty brutal crashes.

Not saying that it isn't tragic, just that anyone who participates in such events willingly assume such risks.

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

[AZGrizFan]

That's a risk you take when you participate in such sports.
No matter what safety precautions are taken, when you're sliding down an ice chute at 90+ mph in an open sled, there are bound to be pretty brutal crashes.

Not saying that it isn't tragic, just that anyone who participates in such events willingly assume such risks.

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

[dbackjon]

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

Then the design flaw was that they were there in the first place...

[Grizalltheway]

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

And who declared you the expert on high-speed luge crashes, Skip?

[BlueHen86]

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

I agree. His only hope would have been a higher wall or some sort of wall-like shielding that would have allowed him to continue sliding down the track. An instantaneous 90 mph to 0 mph collision can not end well.

[Grizalltheway]

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

I agree. His only hope would have been a higher wall or some sort of wall-like shielding that would have allowed him to continue sliding down the track. An instantaneous 90 mph to 0 mph collision can not end well.

Like FSA suggested in the other thread about his, I think a padded wall covering all of them up would probably be their best best.

[AZGrizFan]

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

And who declared you the expert on high-speed luge crashes, Skip?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. It's called physics. Something you probably didn't have to take for your liberal arts degree.

[Grizalltheway]

And who declared you the expert on high-speed luge crashes, Skip?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. It's called physics. Something you probably didn't have to take for your liberal arts degree.

Yeah, and if you hit something that sufficiently softens the impact of a crash, you at least have a chance of surviving said crash. Ever heard of airbags?

Oh, and I only have one liberal arts degree. The other is in International Business.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Watch the video, dude. Proper padding on those pillars would at least have given him a chance at surviving that wreck.

Oh, PLEASE. He was doing 90 miles an hour. NINETY. They could have put 10 feet of PILLOWS around that pole and it wouldn't have made any difference.

No kidding!

Padding would have done nothing for that guy at the speed he hit that pole. His helmet shattered and a pillow wouldnt have changed a damn thing.

[Mountaineer]

Caught a glimpse of the luge and bobsled problems/crashes on the NBC coverage and all I can say is yikes. That's some scary stuff and I imagine those two events are going to get some serious viewer ship. Morbid curiosity.

[clenz]

I still haven't saw the video, but it sounds horrific

[BearIt]

It's sad, but I'm not that suprised. I watched a world cup bobsled event at that track last winter while we were on a ski trip. We stood at one corner close to the bottom and saw 4 different teams wreck there in a 2 hour event. I got a real appreciation for how fast and dangerous that sport is. At least when they crashed they were in a tin can for protection, unlike the luge. I don't know if it was the same corner or if it is normal to have that many wrecks in a bobsled event.
All I can say is people in those sports are fucking nuts.

[AZGrizFan]

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. It's called physics. Something you probably didn't have to take for your liberal arts degree.

Yeah, and if you hit something that sufficiently softens the impact of a crash, you at least have a chance of surviving said crash. Ever heard of airbags?

Oh, and I only have one liberal arts degree. The other is in International Business.

As I suspected: no physics. Apology accepted.

[Grizalltheway]

Yeah, and if you hit something that sufficiently softens the impact of a crash, you at least have a chance of surviving said crash. Ever heard of airbags?

Oh, and I only have one liberal arts degree. The other is in International Business.

As I suspected: no physics. Apology accepted.

You're welcome.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Looks like the safety nazis win...................